If there’s one thing people can agree on, it’s that jokes about spouses at the 2022 Academy Awards didn’t quite land how people expected.
In addition to the slap heard around the world, another talked about moment was Amy Schumer’s joke about Kirsten Dunst. The comedian performed a bit where she joked Dunst was just a seat filler.
The whole thing feels like playing with fire, after what happened earlier in the night.
More awkward moments at the Oscars: Amy Schumer, with one of the most unfunny jokes of all time, moved Kirsten Dunst out of her seat, calling her a "seat filler," prompting husband Jesse Plemons to say "you know that was my wife?"pic.twitter.com/GrTKLH8dfa— Greg Price (@Greg Price) 1648438527
In the above clip, Schumer is trying to explain what a ‘seat filler’ is. For big televised events, like the Oscars, seat fillers are extras hired to make the room look full all the time.
If a celebrity gets up to go to the restroom, or step outside for a bit, the seat filler takes their spot so the room doesn’t look empty.
Schumer’s joke is that she doesn’t recognize Dunst as the prolific actor and talented performer everyone else knows her to be. Instead, she implies Dunst is just an extra, a seat filler to be moved when a star comes back to their seat.
Schumer gets her to move and sits down to talk with Jesse Plemons.
She then compliments the actor on his recent film.
“Jesse, I loved you in ‘Power of the Dog’.”
Plemons responded:
“You know, that was my wife, Amy.”
Schumer just continued playing dumb, saying:
“You’re married to that seat filler? Oh, that’s weird.”
People were not having it.
amy schumer calling kirsten dunst a seat filler when this is her filmography #Oscarspic.twitter.com/r8fVyyJgx2— tj (@tj) 1648438543
If I were Amy Schumer, I'd be really cautious about this dumb bit where she calls Kirsten Dunst a seat-filler and shoves her out of her seat in order to talk to Jesse Plemmons. This is a bad night at the #Oscars to be insulting people's wives.pic.twitter.com/o7ffeCQUlI— Tasha Robinson (@Tasha Robinson) 1648437909
please never invite amy schumer to an award show again\u2026why she using ukraine and trans people as a punchline..and then calling kirsten dunst a seat filler infront of her husband? oh she needs a SMACK— tyler (@tyler) 1648437998
Surely if anyone should have punched anyone last night it was Jesse Plemons after Amy Schumer called Queen Kirsten Dunst \u2018seat filler\u2019. A beacon of chivalry and restraint in a toxic world.— Lillian Crawford (@Lillian Crawford) 1648455321
Jesse Plemons when Amy Schumer shaded Kirsten dunstpic.twitter.com/z44p2PbiaH— BLACK LIVES MATTER (@BLACK LIVES MATTER) 1648494872
The criticism of the joke seemed worse after people were already riled up over the Will Smith/Chris Rock interaction. They were ready to defense Dunst from such an insulting joke.
This is when Schumer had to explain a few things. She took to Instagram and put people’s fears at bay that the joke wasn’t done off the cuff at Dunst’s expenses.
Instead, she explained that Dunst was in on the bit.
@amyschumer / Instagram
In an Instagram story, screenshot above, Schumer explains that she loves Kirsten Dunst as much as we do.
The post said:
“Hey I appreciate the love for Kirsten Dunst. I love her too!”
“That was a choreographed bit she was in on. Wouldn’t disrespect that queen like that.”
Which is great, since Dunst was there for her first Academy Award nomination for her role in The Power of the Dog, where she starred alongside her fiancé, Plemons.
The news was reassuring, though it may not have improved the joke.
People were still giving their thoughts about the interaction.
Geez! It was planned..pic.twitter.com/bFGf3q4Iu0— movies/tv kind of girl (@movies/tv kind of girl) 1648505088
It\u2019s not that I didn\u2019t know it was a joke, it\u2019s that I don\u2019t believe Amy Schumer should be allowed to speak to Kirsten Dunst. What\u2019s not clicking.— Alexis \u201cBring Back Bunheads\u201d Wilson (@Alexis \u201cBring Back Bunheads\u201d Wilson) 1648615620
kirsten dunst DID NOT set tom cruise on fire at 11 years old for amy schumer to call her a seat filler !— alice has bangs (@alice has bangs) 1648440734
Let\u2019s not forget Amy Schumer removing Kirsten Dunst, an Academy nominated actor, from her seat & calling her a \u201cseat filler\u201d as a bit. I\u2019m so tired of jokes at women\u2019s expense. The whole show was cheap. Booo— carsen (@carsen) 1648471455
I dunno, pretty funny that Jesse Plemons is so good of an actor that everyone's mad at Amy Schumer— Mr. Chau (@Mr. Chau) 1648509489
This isn’t the first thing Schumer has had to comment on from the 2022 Academy Awards. She was also open about the moment Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face.
She called the situation “disturbing” and commended Chris Rock and Quest Love for how they kept their composure in the immediate aftermath.